Left: Lewis Nuzum II. Right: Josephine Nuzum (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A 9-year-old girl in West Virginia showed up to school with bruises on her face and told staff her parents allegedly beat her with a metal flyswatter, belt, and wooden paddle with holes in it. Cops say the parents also repeatedly locked the child in her room while they “went out to smoke.”
Lewis Nuzum II, 52, and Josephine Nuzum, 45, are each charged with child abuse resulting in injury and child neglect resulting in injury, according to court records viewed by Law&Crime, following an investigation by the Taylor County Sheriff”s Office.
Charging documents obtained by the local CBS affiliate WDTV outline the accusations against the couple, including statements they allegedly made explaining their side of the story.
According to police, the Nuzums told investigators that they would hit the child when she misbehaved. They both allegedly claimed that the girl was only beaten with their hands and not objects, while the child told school staff that her parents used a silver and green metal flyswatter, a brown belt with a turquoise buckle, and the wooden paddle, WDTV reports.
“Beat the a— off her,” Lewis Nuzum allegedly admitted to cops, but only with his hand, he said.
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Josephine Nuzum told police that the girl “does this every year school starts,” in reference to the abuse allegations, according to the charging documents.
The girl had bruises on her face and eyelid that she said came from being hit with the flyswatter. She told cops she “cried really hard” after being hit and her father tried to keep her from going to school the next day but she “wanted to go,” WDTV reports, citing the charging documents.
When police asked about locking the girl in her room, the Nuzums allegedly claimed they had “caught her calling 911 before” while they were outside smoking. She did this by retrieving “a cellphone out of their room,” according to the couple.
Police searched the home and found what they allege was a wooden block with screws and a locking mechanism attached to it that lined up with holes in the girl’s bedroom door.
The Nuzums were arrested and booked at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail. Court records show bail was set at $100,000 for Lewis Nuzum and $50,000 for Josephine Nuzum. They were both still behind bars Monday.
